There are the producers and the consumers. Everything else in economics is detail, elaboration, politics, and fakery (DEPF). As time goes by, DEPF tends to increase…at the expense of real activity.
Let's see! The US is $40,000,000,000,000,.00 in debt adding about 2T a year. Is Trump going to fix that? How will that work out? I don't know but my guess is not good.
How about the preceding or proceeding presidents? No, none have done a damn thing about the deficit. So why is this Trump's problem? I'll tell you what, it is the result of a corrupt political system's planning scamming post Eisenhower. The system is so broken that the only possible fix is self-immolation, which is taking place as we speak, slowly but surely, taking place right in front of our eyes if you just look.
I think it's Trumps problem because he is the president. Now is it all on his shoulders? Of course not but he has certainly done nothing to begin the process of reducing it and returning to fiscal sanity. I agree with you that at this point it is unfixable and that the slow decline of the empire continues and for the same reasons that did in the Roman Empire. As is said history repeats.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Everyone has issues, but China has spent 40 years prioritizing the base, Here in China you see "small" people and small businesses working like crazy in numbers vastly greater that in the US. Everyone, even the huge corporations (the sole beneficiaries in the US), are doing well. The trains and streets are full of activity. Out of at least 8-10 sleeper trains (each 16 super modern cars) each night in each direction between Beijing and Guangdong I couldn't find a single empty bed (no matter the class/price) and was forced to fly the next day. While the homeless plague our cities and neighborhoods in the US, I've seen exactly one such individual in the 2 weeks I've been here. Yes, people complain about the long hours of work and difficulty in finding employment, but the energy and masses of well-dressed people all in constant movement has no equal in the US. You should come sometime, so you won't be making these uninformed comments. BTW, count the number of country leaders visiting Beijing and compare it with the paucity of interest in visiting DC. Well, maybe the number of times Netanyahu has gone, would make up for that in your mind. The demise has happened: The US is at the level of China ten years ago--and falling.
Seems you are merely expanding upon your limited observations.
At your age you should know your observations are but a fraction of what is.
All you describe is a crowded city.
And you confirm their culture is homogenized.
-
According to Ai... China's total debt exceeds the U.S.
China 303%
U.S. 270%
Much of China's debt finances non-productive investments in real estate and excess manufacturing capacity
China's debt servicing is on the increase as the returns on investments decline.
-
China faces a severe demographic crisis characterized by a rapidly declining birth rate and aging population, which threatens long-term economic growth and fiscal sustainability.
-
China has as many issues as the U.S.
To suggest that the U.S. is definitely on its way out.
The American economy was originally based on free markets, individual freedom and limited government interference in the market place. America is not a mono culture. We are a society of individuals. That is our strength. It is an observable fact that the more interventionist the government becomes the worse our economy performs. Unlike China, we are not a mono people nor a mono culture. China has a long history of embracing authoritarian rule. China is mono racial and discourages immigration. America is multi racial, multi cultural, individualistic and was built on immigration. Real Americans abhor political control and embrace freedom. Communism, socialism, fascism, interventionism etc does not work with Americans.
If Americans want to be great again, then the government needs to get the hell out of the
I strongly agree with the article’s scepticism toward central planning. Having grown up in socialist Hungary, I experienced firsthand how inefficient centralised economic systems can become over time.
At the same time, modern democracies seem increasingly driven by short-term political incentives tied to election cycles, debt accumulation, and populism. In contrast, China’s one-party system appears better able to pursue a long-term industrial strategy consistently.
It will be fascinating to see how these opposing forces evolve over the coming decades: the adaptability and innovation of freer markets versus the strategic coordination and long-term planning of centralised political systems. History suggests neither model escapes its own contradictions forever.
In terms of China's long term planning, Victor David Hansen has pointed out that long term planning is great, but how does one plan for the inevitable e.g. technology or that which changes everything.
That is a very good point, and I agree regarding the unpredictability of technological change. My original thought, however, was less about economic planning and more about political time horizons.
Democracies often struggle with short-term incentives because politicians naturally focus on election cycles and immediate popularity. A one-party system like China’s, at least in theory, may be able to pursue longer-term strategic goals more consistently because leaders are less constrained by elections and shifts in public mood.
I am not sure where the right balance lies, but I sometimes think this was also part of the argument associated with Lee Kuan Yew. He seemed to believe he could implement certain long-term policies more consistently because short-term electoral pressures drove his political system less.
Of course, that model also creates risks, especially rigidity and weaker feedback mechanisms. So perhaps the real question is whether any political system can successfully combine long-term strategic thinking with the adaptability and innovation that freer societies and markets tend to produce.
The offspring of Chinese farmers are coming up with most of the new tech. China changes more in a year than the US in a decade. Victor David Hansen is a hopeless ideologue blind to everything China is achieving.
Damn. It's amazing your opinion of China! Perhaps you don't realize that one of Donnie's biggest backers and a staunch Israel Firster, Miriam Adelson, has profitable business interests in China. Trump's buddy Elon Musk also is tight with the Chinese "CROOKS AND SPIES". Maybe Donnie has you fooled?
Besides helping to get the Epstine files released what has Massie contributed to this country or his district as a representative? Nothing accept being a constitutional conservative and voting no. Not much of a legacy.
With regard to China, the competition is just what this country needs.
My take is that it is very hard to understand when the world is TOTALLY in debt. Quite simply because when all the competitors are not living within their means then who is really ahead? That borrowed money can build huge differences, in appearance, depending upon an entity's propensity to use debt. Is China ahead? Well it certainly is ahead even of the US when it comes to debt. Around the year 2000 the cost of building manufacturing plants in China was 1/10 that in the US; US business studies. "Looking in the mirror" on a personal level may be the only way to see who is ahead. Are you personally comfortable with you job stability and your debt level? For me I'll take a far less luxurious life style (which means almost nothing to me) and no debt. Maybe a country's value system is what needs to be examined at personal levels. Personally I think Trump is so far a genius. In my opinion he has done 10 times what any previous president in my life time has done, primarily in reducing government stupidity. Yes his budget has been huge but everyone gets laughed out of Congress for trying to reduce debt for, how many years? It seems everyone thinks he has failed in Iran, maybe but, on the other hand what if Iran becomes a nothing burger? Just a meaningless screaming lunatic that gets punished every so often for posing problems in the Strait of Hormuz and attacking its neighbors.
The Persians are an ancient culture which has existed and influenced the world for thousands of years. It was thrown off balance by the outrageous, but very American, overthrowing of its government in 1952 at the behest of a private oil company, which believed (and convinced the ever vigilant warmongers in DC) that the Iranians did not have any right to Iran's oil!! Ditto, Chile's copper, where I lived during the time Chileans were disputing this axiom of the US government.
Anyway, Iran was the first to plied with a dictator (Shah) to replace the first ELECTED government in the Middle East and acted as US-forced dictators usually act: killing thousands of students, etc. Finally, during the Carter administration, the students gathered the strength to overcome the fascists, but religious fascists stepped into the gap and took over the country. As bad and backward as they are, they don't compare to Israel, which temporarily convinced our idiot-in-chief to obliterate Iran with no thought of the local and worldwide implications of that gross miscalculation. As much as Israelis want to vacate the whole Middle East, ut seems unlikely that, with super-Christian-nutcase Secretary of War Hegseth's hands now tied, the invaders will NOT succeed. .
Patrick: You are sooooooo far off base with your comments about China that maybe you should go and see how wrong you are with your own eyes. That way you want have to spend to much time producing what is largely total nonsense.
Good morning. Bill’s opening graph of the Japan Nikkei looked just like the US markets. All-time highs! But let’s convert those Nikkei numbers into real money-GOLD.
Jan. 1st, 1990, the Nikkei was worth in US$ equivalent $270.00
Today the Nikkei is worth in US$ equivalent $381.17
For a total return over the past 36 years of 41.2% or 1.15%/yr.
Jan. 1st, 1990, the Nikkei was worth 0.65 oz of gold.
Today the Nikkei can be purchased for 0.084 oz of gold.
For a total return over the past 36 years of MINUS 87%.
I believe this is the future of the United States stock market. No matter who is President.
The good times are going to go down almost in direct relation to the debt piling up.
Too bad you would have considered Washington as isolationist. He warned against foreign entanglements. Lindsey is a neocon's neocon. Never saw a war he didn't like as long he isn't on the front lines. But you consider neoconsvas conservatives despite the fact that they along with the Dims have been initiating wars that are driving us further into debt. Washington and the boys also preached against debt.
We all know there is no winding the debt cycle back. We can only prepare ourselves for what coming. Porter Stansberry (founder of Stansberry Research) has a new book out, "2029 The end of America". A little history and two proposals to consider before it's to late. I believe many of the BPR readers are serious thinkers. I hope you will consider reading this book.
One is buying land, another selling land, a latter reveals the former two by simply taking it. You could call it TCS - true competitive sinecure
Actually now that I think about isn't that what you would call a swap. Yes the fake the fraud and the phonies. Perfect TCS FFP followed by praise and applaud.
So I guess you have no problem with AIPAC and other Israeli Firsters like Miriam Adelson dumping millions into the race. I thought a Congressman was supposed to represent the people of his district not Israel. But for your info Donnie is no conservative . Would a conservative back an experimental mRNA vaccine? Or shutting down the country for a flu? Or invading Iran because Israel was going to do it anyway? Or trillions in budget deficits? Or being in favor of suppressing interest rates?
But you are pro-military? But what about the sailors of the USS Liberty who were killed or maimed by your boys in the IDF? It's okay to kill Americans when the Zionists do it?
Not everyone backed the Warped Speed experimental mRNA vaccines. Several scientists warned that they were dangerous and ineffective. But your government and media suppressed the information. Maybe you aren't really a conservative but just the run of the mill Neocon. Like Donnie's buddy Lindsey Graham.
Let's see! The US is $40,000,000,000,000,.00 in debt adding about 2T a year. Is Trump going to fix that? How will that work out? I don't know but my guess is not good.
How about the preceding or proceeding presidents? No, none have done a damn thing about the deficit. So why is this Trump's problem? I'll tell you what, it is the result of a corrupt political system's planning scamming post Eisenhower. The system is so broken that the only possible fix is self-immolation, which is taking place as we speak, slowly but surely, taking place right in front of our eyes if you just look.
I think it's Trumps problem because he is the president. Now is it all on his shoulders? Of course not but he has certainly done nothing to begin the process of reducing it and returning to fiscal sanity. I agree with you that at this point it is unfixable and that the slow decline of the empire continues and for the same reasons that did in the Roman Empire. As is said history repeats.
The CCP has dire domestic issues to contend with.
To state unequivocally the CCP will dominate the globe is simply wishful thinking.
America's demise is not imminent, and not necessarily inevitable.
Do not heed the sirens of those seeking deterrence...
You have no idea what you are talking about. Everyone has issues, but China has spent 40 years prioritizing the base, Here in China you see "small" people and small businesses working like crazy in numbers vastly greater that in the US. Everyone, even the huge corporations (the sole beneficiaries in the US), are doing well. The trains and streets are full of activity. Out of at least 8-10 sleeper trains (each 16 super modern cars) each night in each direction between Beijing and Guangdong I couldn't find a single empty bed (no matter the class/price) and was forced to fly the next day. While the homeless plague our cities and neighborhoods in the US, I've seen exactly one such individual in the 2 weeks I've been here. Yes, people complain about the long hours of work and difficulty in finding employment, but the energy and masses of well-dressed people all in constant movement has no equal in the US. You should come sometime, so you won't be making these uninformed comments. BTW, count the number of country leaders visiting Beijing and compare it with the paucity of interest in visiting DC. Well, maybe the number of times Netanyahu has gone, would make up for that in your mind. The demise has happened: The US is at the level of China ten years ago--and falling.
Ed...
I am not making uninformed comments.
Seems you are merely expanding upon your limited observations.
At your age you should know your observations are but a fraction of what is.
All you describe is a crowded city.
And you confirm their culture is homogenized.
-
According to Ai... China's total debt exceeds the U.S.
China 303%
U.S. 270%
Much of China's debt finances non-productive investments in real estate and excess manufacturing capacity
China's debt servicing is on the increase as the returns on investments decline.
-
China faces a severe demographic crisis characterized by a rapidly declining birth rate and aging population, which threatens long-term economic growth and fiscal sustainability.
-
China has as many issues as the U.S.
To suggest that the U.S. is definitely on its way out.
And China will absolutely take over.
Is wishful anti-American propagation...
$348 trillion total global debt... you might ponder how the rest of the globe is going to erase the 89% of global debt that is not U.S.
The BPR investments make the most sense to me.
It's possible your math is faulty. Doesn't $348T include private debt and isn't some of that in the US? Your 89% figure doesn't allow for that.
The world is in debt $348 trillion.
Only 11% of that is U.S.
I like that statistic, where did you get it?
I like it too...
-
Total global debt $348 T
U.S. debt $39 T
U.S. resource consumption 25% of global
U.S. population 5% of global
-
To me this is fantastic!
This is reason enough to question BPR's doom and gloom verdict...
This is why investing in the U.S. is still the best overall option!
The trap is global.
The U.S. will be the one place to be when others implode.
Gold-backed stablecoins eased into the financial system could reshape the aspects of U.S. economy before it implodes.
Doom and gloom are not inevitable... only if we allow it.
Simply, he won’t.
The American economy was originally based on free markets, individual freedom and limited government interference in the market place. America is not a mono culture. We are a society of individuals. That is our strength. It is an observable fact that the more interventionist the government becomes the worse our economy performs. Unlike China, we are not a mono people nor a mono culture. China has a long history of embracing authoritarian rule. China is mono racial and discourages immigration. America is multi racial, multi cultural, individualistic and was built on immigration. Real Americans abhor political control and embrace freedom. Communism, socialism, fascism, interventionism etc does not work with Americans.
If Americans want to be great again, then the government needs to get the hell out of the
way.
I strongly agree with the article’s scepticism toward central planning. Having grown up in socialist Hungary, I experienced firsthand how inefficient centralised economic systems can become over time.
At the same time, modern democracies seem increasingly driven by short-term political incentives tied to election cycles, debt accumulation, and populism. In contrast, China’s one-party system appears better able to pursue a long-term industrial strategy consistently.
It will be fascinating to see how these opposing forces evolve over the coming decades: the adaptability and innovation of freer markets versus the strategic coordination and long-term planning of centralised political systems. History suggests neither model escapes its own contradictions forever.
In terms of China's long term planning, Victor David Hansen has pointed out that long term planning is great, but how does one plan for the inevitable e.g. technology or that which changes everything.
That is a very good point, and I agree regarding the unpredictability of technological change. My original thought, however, was less about economic planning and more about political time horizons.
Democracies often struggle with short-term incentives because politicians naturally focus on election cycles and immediate popularity. A one-party system like China’s, at least in theory, may be able to pursue longer-term strategic goals more consistently because leaders are less constrained by elections and shifts in public mood.
I am not sure where the right balance lies, but I sometimes think this was also part of the argument associated with Lee Kuan Yew. He seemed to believe he could implement certain long-term policies more consistently because short-term electoral pressures drove his political system less.
Of course, that model also creates risks, especially rigidity and weaker feedback mechanisms. So perhaps the real question is whether any political system can successfully combine long-term strategic thinking with the adaptability and innovation that freer societies and markets tend to produce.
The offspring of Chinese farmers are coming up with most of the new tech. China changes more in a year than the US in a decade. Victor David Hansen is a hopeless ideologue blind to everything China is achieving.
Damn. It's amazing your opinion of China! Perhaps you don't realize that one of Donnie's biggest backers and a staunch Israel Firster, Miriam Adelson, has profitable business interests in China. Trump's buddy Elon Musk also is tight with the Chinese "CROOKS AND SPIES". Maybe Donnie has you fooled?
Besides helping to get the Epstine files released what has Massie contributed to this country or his district as a representative? Nothing accept being a constitutional conservative and voting no. Not much of a legacy.
With regard to China, the competition is just what this country needs.
My take is that it is very hard to understand when the world is TOTALLY in debt. Quite simply because when all the competitors are not living within their means then who is really ahead? That borrowed money can build huge differences, in appearance, depending upon an entity's propensity to use debt. Is China ahead? Well it certainly is ahead even of the US when it comes to debt. Around the year 2000 the cost of building manufacturing plants in China was 1/10 that in the US; US business studies. "Looking in the mirror" on a personal level may be the only way to see who is ahead. Are you personally comfortable with you job stability and your debt level? For me I'll take a far less luxurious life style (which means almost nothing to me) and no debt. Maybe a country's value system is what needs to be examined at personal levels. Personally I think Trump is so far a genius. In my opinion he has done 10 times what any previous president in my life time has done, primarily in reducing government stupidity. Yes his budget has been huge but everyone gets laughed out of Congress for trying to reduce debt for, how many years? It seems everyone thinks he has failed in Iran, maybe but, on the other hand what if Iran becomes a nothing burger? Just a meaningless screaming lunatic that gets punished every so often for posing problems in the Strait of Hormuz and attacking its neighbors.
The Persians are an ancient culture which has existed and influenced the world for thousands of years. It was thrown off balance by the outrageous, but very American, overthrowing of its government in 1952 at the behest of a private oil company, which believed (and convinced the ever vigilant warmongers in DC) that the Iranians did not have any right to Iran's oil!! Ditto, Chile's copper, where I lived during the time Chileans were disputing this axiom of the US government.
Anyway, Iran was the first to plied with a dictator (Shah) to replace the first ELECTED government in the Middle East and acted as US-forced dictators usually act: killing thousands of students, etc. Finally, during the Carter administration, the students gathered the strength to overcome the fascists, but religious fascists stepped into the gap and took over the country. As bad and backward as they are, they don't compare to Israel, which temporarily convinced our idiot-in-chief to obliterate Iran with no thought of the local and worldwide implications of that gross miscalculation. As much as Israelis want to vacate the whole Middle East, ut seems unlikely that, with super-Christian-nutcase Secretary of War Hegseth's hands now tied, the invaders will NOT succeed. .
Patrick, thanks for revealing for us where you come up with such absolute nonsense.
Patrick: You are sooooooo far off base with your comments about China that maybe you should go and see how wrong you are with your own eyes. That way you want have to spend to much time producing what is largely total nonsense.
Agree
Good morning. Bill’s opening graph of the Japan Nikkei looked just like the US markets. All-time highs! But let’s convert those Nikkei numbers into real money-GOLD.
Jan. 1st, 1990, the Nikkei was worth in US$ equivalent $270.00
Today the Nikkei is worth in US$ equivalent $381.17
For a total return over the past 36 years of 41.2% or 1.15%/yr.
Jan. 1st, 1990, the Nikkei was worth 0.65 oz of gold.
Today the Nikkei can be purchased for 0.084 oz of gold.
For a total return over the past 36 years of MINUS 87%.
I believe this is the future of the United States stock market. No matter who is President.
The good times are going to go down almost in direct relation to the debt piling up.
AI is not going to save us. I’m glad I’m 88.
Too bad you would have considered Washington as isolationist. He warned against foreign entanglements. Lindsey is a neocon's neocon. Never saw a war he didn't like as long he isn't on the front lines. But you consider neoconsvas conservatives despite the fact that they along with the Dims have been initiating wars that are driving us further into debt. Washington and the boys also preached against debt.
We all know there is no winding the debt cycle back. We can only prepare ourselves for what coming. Porter Stansberry (founder of Stansberry Research) has a new book out, "2029 The end of America". A little history and two proposals to consider before it's to late. I believe many of the BPR readers are serious thinkers. I hope you will consider reading this book.
Jim Marshall
I agree with you 100%. The gold will go up.
Jim
Look at how well our politburo has managed our budgets/the dollar. Surely more of their wisdom can only bless us further.
Thank Goodness for the Brain Trust of Trumptards...
Trump Carney Starmer. Lol
One is buying land, another selling land, a latter reveals the former two by simply taking it. You could call it TCS - true competitive sinecure
Actually now that I think about isn't that what you would call a swap. Yes the fake the fraud and the phonies. Perfect TCS FFP followed by praise and applaud.
14 years and one bill, right, he is a keeper. lol.
So I guess you have no problem with AIPAC and other Israeli Firsters like Miriam Adelson dumping millions into the race. I thought a Congressman was supposed to represent the people of his district not Israel. But for your info Donnie is no conservative . Would a conservative back an experimental mRNA vaccine? Or shutting down the country for a flu? Or invading Iran because Israel was going to do it anyway? Or trillions in budget deficits? Or being in favor of suppressing interest rates?
But you are pro-military? But what about the sailors of the USS Liberty who were killed or maimed by your boys in the IDF? It's okay to kill Americans when the Zionists do it?
Not everyone backed the Warped Speed experimental mRNA vaccines. Several scientists warned that they were dangerous and ineffective. But your government and media suppressed the information. Maybe you aren't really a conservative but just the run of the mill Neocon. Like Donnie's buddy Lindsey Graham.
Yeah but he is a mechanical engineer with credentials from MIT, so there is that.
Economic life.
In my life I have known many frauds, people who use you, often to your detriment and ultimately dump you when you are of no further use.
And also, I have met and known some good honest people, though they are few in number.